Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.

Monday, June 27, 2016

My 10 Favorite Books

My 10 Favorite Books: Laurie Anderson

For his bookshop and website One Grand Books, the editor Aaron Hicklin asked people to name the 10 books they’d take with them if they were marooned on a desert island. The next in the series is the musician and artist Laurie Anderson, who shares her list exclusively with T.

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“Within the Context of No Context,” George W.S. Trow

It’s hilarious and dangerous. Dead-on analysis of what makes America so big: the physical size the country, the size of the economy, the size of the con. Good summer reading that gives a context to “making this country great again.”

“The Tibetan Book of the Dead”

The most visual language of any book I know. Which is odd since this is a book about the bardo — the disintegration of the self and the transformation of energy. I love the imagery and it reminds me that every minute of life is the bardo!

“Moby Dick,” Herman Melville

Melville is master of the jump cut. I fell in love with this book. The words were songs, the flow embraced the way we actually think. Backtracking, looping, jumping. But here’s a tip: if you’re thinking of making a multimedia opera from your favorite book, don’t do it! I tried it and didn’t

have the nerve to rough it up. I never took off the white gloves. So obviously it didn’t work out